Opera-chair.



APWANNBR, JR.

' OPERA CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED I'EB.Z1, 1910.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

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Patented Jan A. WANNER, JR- OPERA CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, 1910.

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A. WANNER, JR.

OPERA CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, 1910.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

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8 w m w W ing drawings,

SATES PAEN OPERA-CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 21, 1910.

Patented J an. 10, 1911.

Serial No. 544,959.

To all whom it Be it known may concern.

that I, ALBERT IVANNER, J r., a citizen of the United States, residingin Hoboken, Hudson county, and State of New Jersey, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Opera-Chairs; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanyand to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this specification.

My object in and by the present invention is to improve chairs of thetype employed in auditoriums and the like public places principally inrespect to reducing the cost of manufacture thereof while retaining themneat, attractive and substantial in appearance, and in other respects,for instance, that, while they may be light in construction andtherefore readily portable, they will be strong and durable; that theymay be adapted to occupy as little space as possible when not in use(their seats being then folded or swung up into fiatwise relation withtheir backs), affording free access to. any chair in a row in passingbetween rows; that a row of the chairs may be readily adapted todifferent curves according to a predetermined seating plan; thatdifierent styles of backs may be utilized without materially alteringthe other parts of the chairs to adapt them to them; that the individualwidth of the chairs may be varied, etc. etc. To these ends I employ, asone of the salient features of my invention, a substantially U-shapedmember serving in connecting the back and back-leg structure of a chairwith standards arranged forward of said structure, said member occupyingapproximately the seating plane of the chair and having its end-portionsprojecting substantially forwardly. Given a construction of thischaracter said member may, in addition to the function above indicated,serve in the supporting of the seat.

In the adaptation herein specifically shown and described anothersubstantially U- shaped member is employed, disposed in a plane abovethe first and serving in connecting the back and back-leg structure withsaid standards, its ends also projecting forwardly. It of coursecooperates with the,

first member in giving stability to the chair frame and, in additlon,afiords arms for the chair.

In the preferred construction a bar traverses the end-portions of thefirst member and serves directly to sustain the seat. An arm-proper,forming an extension of each end-portion of the second member, directlyconnects the same with the side-standard.

In a unitary group of two or more chairs, a single standard is usedbetween each two chairs; likewise a single arm-proper, which is madesufficiently wide so that the adjoin ing end-portions of the uppermembers for the two chairs may be secured thereto at different distancesapart to vary the centerto-center dimension of the chairs and so as tosuit the chairs to the proper row-radius, as the circumstances mayrequire. In such a construction a single bar may serve for the two ormore chairs.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which the invention is fullyillustrated, Figure l is a perspective view of a group of two of thechairs, the seat of one being lowered and that of the other raised; Fig.2

is a horizontal sectional view taken 1n a plane just above the arms ofthe chairs; Fig. 3 is a similar view taken in a plane just above theseats of the chairs, the seats being shown in their normal positions inboth Figs. 2 and 3; Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of one of thechairs, the seat being raised; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4., theseat being depressed; and, Figs. 6 and are details of the means forpivotally connecting the seat with the back and back-leg structure.

In the drawings, a designates the back and back-leg structures; theseare preferably of the bentwood type and may be of any desired style.

Z) designates the aforesaid standards, the same being arranged forwardof the legs of the back and back-leg structure and somewhat fartherapart; each standard includes a front leg 0 and an extension 61 whichprojects above the plane of the seat. The legs 0 curve forwardly,somewhat, and this curvature, taken with the rearward curvature of theback-legs, gives the necessary stability to the chairs which, it will beunderstood, may be either fixed or not to the floor by suitable means. 6is the upper and f the lower U-shaped member.

The member 6 is secured to the back of the back and back-leg structure aat a suitable height so that Wardly, afford arms for the chairs.instance it is secured to the back at the points g, by screws or thelike, and .on it I rests the arms-proper 7b, the same being securedthereto by screws 2' or the like and 5 ends of the extensions *d havingthe upper .of the standards doweled into .or otherwise rigidly fixed tothem. The back portion .of the member 6 being extended around the backof the back and back-leg structure, is incidentally useful as a supportfor wraps, coats, etc.

The member f is secured to the front side .of the back and back-legstructure in a plane slightly below that of the normal plane of theseat. In the present instance, the points of securing are four innumber, screws j or the like being emp oyed as the securing means. Theforward ends of the member f are secured to the standards 6 by screws orotherwise, thus rigidly connecting the standards with the back and ture.Thus the connected and back-leg structure and afford a substantial andmeans of themselves.

A horizontal bar Z is secured by screws m to the ends of the member f,on which it rests, giving additional rigidity and stability to the frameof the chair. The seat 72 is preferably attached to the back and backlegstructure and is supported by the bar Z when in its normal position, atwhich time recesses 0 in the under side of the scat receive the bar Z,In the present instance the seat is pivotally attached to the back andbackleg structure in the following way: A metallic strap p extendingtransversely of the seat is secured to the under side thereof at theback by screws the end-portions r of said strap being bent upwardly atright angles. By means of rivets 8 said end-portions 1 are pivotallyconnected with links 6 also pivotally connected with the back andback-leg structure by screws a. This pivotal arrangement of the seatallows a double pivotal movement, one on the part of the links If on thescrews u and the other on the part of the seat on the rivets s. lVhenthe seat is raised the links rest on the back portion of the member f,which limits their downward pivotal movement; when the seat is depressedit swings on the rivets s as an axis until it bears against the bar Z,whereupon further pressure on the front portion of the seat will forcethe latter into the position shown in Fig. 5 in full lines, where thelinks stand upright and the seat has its recesses 0 engaged with the barZ, thus limiting planiform movement of the seat. This part of myinvention, involving the method standards, back members 6 and rigidsupporting its ends, which project forwill be conveniently disposed toIn the present back-leg str-uc-,

of pivoting the seat and supporting the same when depressed has beenmade the subject .of claims contained in another application filed ofeven date herewith.

In the foregoing description I have eX- plained the construction of asingle chair -comprising my improvements; as illustrated in thedrawings, a group of two or more chairs may be constructed to form aunitary structure, in which case a single standard 6 and a singlearm-proper h are common elements of each two adjoining chairs, the ,adjoining ends of .the two members 6 being secured to the under side ofthe arm-proper, side by side, and :the adjoining, ends of the twomembers f being secured at opposite points of the standard Z). Byaltering the positions of the members 6 and f relatively to each otherin securing them to the com mon or intermediate arm-proper and to thecommon standard Z) the chairs may he adapt- .ed to the curvature of therow to which they are to be assigned. And the spacing .of the standards.7) to correspond to any desired .center-to-center also be variedaccording to the distance apart at which the two end-portions may besecured to the common arm-proper.

WVhere two or more chairs are assembled as a unitary structure, the barZ may .be of such length as to correspond to the entire width thereof,as shown in the drawings; a saw-cut '21 in the bar will permit its beingbent to suit the radius of the curve of the row to which the chairs areassigned.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination of a back and backleg structure, standards disposedforward of said structure, a seat pivotally attached in the back partthereof to said structure and movable on a horizontal axis, means forconnecting said structure and the standards rig idly together and forsupporting the seat in its forward part comprising a substantiallyhorizontal .U shaped member attached to said structure and having itsends projecting forwardly and each attached to a standard anda-crossepiece connecting and resting upon the ends of said member, saidstandards projecting above the seating plane of the seat, and means forconnecting said structure and the standards rigidly together above theseating plane comprising a U-shaped member attached to said standard andhaving its ends projecting forwardly and each attached to a standard,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a seat, of a back and back-leg structure,standards disposed forward of said structure and extending above theseat, means for rigidly connecting the standards and said structuretogether comprising a U-shaped member attached to said structure andhaving its end-portions dimension of the chairs may 1 projectingforwardly and attached to said 1 standards and other means for rigidlyconnecting the standards and said structure togcther disposed above thefirst means and comprising a Ushaped member attached to said structureand having its ends projecting forwardly, and arms proper resting uponthe ends of the second U-shaped member and also upon the standards andsecured 10 both to said ends and to said standards and l rigidlyconnecting them together, substantially as described.

I claim the foregoing,

In testimony, that hand this 18th day I have hereunto set my ofFebruary, 1910.

ALBERT lVANNER, JR.

lVitnesses:

CHAS. E. WALTER, WVM. H. KUNTZ.

